Hu Weiyi 胡为一

Born 1990, Shanghai. Lives and works in Shanghai

The traces left on skin by elastic waistbands and bra straps are so ordinary and so transient that most people don’t give them a minute’s thought. Multimedia artist Hu Weiyi not only studied the ones on his girlfriend’s body, he recorded them and timed their gradual disappearance. Hence the title of 14 Minutes (2013), 20 photographs of skin imprinted with underwear and sock elastic, watch bands and jewellery. He sees these as a text that while it lasts can reveal much about a person’s gender, taste, habits and status; that this text is so easily reprinted each day makes the human body seem poignantly vulnerable.